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Biographies
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Lamar Looney
Born in March 1871 in Talladega, Alabama, Lamar Looney was mother of six children under age ten when her husband of twelve years, D. T. "Doc" Looney, suddenly passed away in Greer County, Oklahoma, in 1900. Although her youngest child was only months old, she went to work as a music teacher. She filed on a land claim, but in 1902 she left her farm and moved to Hollis, where she opened an insurance and real estate office. Her life took a political turn when she was elected Harmon County register of deeds and then county clerk in 1916. By 1920 when women won the right to vote, Looney was so popular that she was able to unseat the male incumbent, G. L. Wilson, to become the first woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate. A progressive Democrat, she came out strongly in favor of women's equality. Looney educated Oklahoma women by giving speeches on topics such as "The New Responsibility of Women Since Suffrage." Senator Looney served from 1921 to 1929. During her first term she introduced twenty-eight bills, chaired the State and County Affairs Committee, and because parliamentary procedure was a hobby, presided over the Senate when it was her turn. After her first legislative session, the men with whom she served presented her with a nice leather handbag. The media reported that "the favorable impression she had made as a member of the Senate meant much for the whole state." While in office, she was successful in enacting legislation that would create equality for women and improved child welfare. Looney sought national office, running for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, but never won. She died of heart disease at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City on September 3, 1935.
[Source: "Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture"]
Darrell K. Royal
(1924 - ) Darrell K. Royal, former football coach and Athletic Director of The University of Texas at Austin, one of college football's greatest legends, and an endearing figure in state lore, was born July 6, 1924, in Hollis, Oklahoma, to Burley Ray Royal and Katy Elizabeth Harmon. Royal came to The University of Texas at Austin in 1957, ironically after being an All-American quarterback at the University of Oklahoma and following coaching stints at Mississippi State and the University of Washington, and, after only three years, established the Longhorns as a national power. In the 1960s alone, UT claimed two national titles (1963 and 1969); six bowl games, had a cumulative record of 86-19-2, and was named Coach of the Decade by ABC-TV. Overall, Royal finished his coaching career with a record of 167-47-5, with three national titles, 11 Southwest Conference championships, and 16 bowl games in 23 years, before retiring in 1976. Royal also served the University as Athletic Director in 1962 and oversaw the athletic department until 1980. Among Royal's legions of honors were induction into the National Football, Texas and Oklahoma Sports Halls of Fame and the Longhorn Hall of Honor and was twice named coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association and three times by the Football Writers of America. Most importantly, Royal earned the respect and admiration of his players, coaches and opponents. "I'm not a football fan," President Lyndon Johnson said. "But I am a fan of people, and I am a Darrell Royal fan because he is the rarest of human beings." He married the former Edith Marie Thomason and is the father of three children.
[Source: http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us]
Hon. H. Treadway
The home interests of this member of the Fifth Legislature are as a farmer and progressive citizen of Harmon County with residence at Hollis. Coming to the Legislature with no instruction from his constituency save that he should exercise conservative business judgment in support of measures affecting their interests and the same judgment in opposing unwise measures, Mr. Treadway's career in the Fifth Assembly was studied and careful, as had been his acts in previous years as a public school official and a thrifty citizen of his community.
Mr. Treadway was born in Southern Illinois in 1871, and is a son of Van and Nancy (Hale) Treadway. His father, a native of North Carolina, was for fifteen years a merchant and for a long time a contractor in Southern Illinois. His paternal ancestry came from France, and a representative of the Treadway name settled in America during the Revolution. Mr. Treadway's mother was born in Georgia, and was left an orphan when a small child.
The only formal schooling enjoyed by Mr. Treadway was when a small boy in the primary grades of the country schools. However, he has always had an ambition for practical knowledge, and during his life has been a student of current events, public affairs and history. Circumstances forced upon his shoulders heavy responsibilities when still a boy, and in solving the successive problems of existence he has acquired a practical education that has made him a useful and influential citizen. The death of his father left him at the age of sixteen with the care of a younger brother and sister. His sister is now Mrs. E. R. Ensley of Delta, Colorado, and the brother B. O. Treadway, is a farmer and stock man at Hollis. They lived on a farm in Arkansas a few years, and in" 1892 located near Dallas, Texas, and later Mr. Treadway bought a farm in Denton County of that state and remained there four years. In 1906 he removed to Greer County, Oklahoma, settling on a farm near Hollis, which after statehood was made the county seat of Harmon County, which was formed from a portion of old Greer County. In that locality Mr. Treadway has been engaged in farming and stock raising. He owns two quarter sections of land, and is a practical exponent of the profitable idea of crop diversification.
Mr. Treadway has always taken an active and many times a leading part in school and church affairs in his community. During the past ten years he has at different times served as clerk and director of his home school district. His name was sixth on the list of names of men who petitioned for the establishment of a post office at Hollis. He took a prominent part in the campaign for the creation of Harmon County, and made the first speech opening the division campaign. After the creation of the county he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners, a position he filled with credit and with profit to the county for nearly six years. When efforts were made to dissolve the county after its creation, he led the fight in maintaining the organization intact. Harmon County now has an indebtedness of only $4,000, and far more than that amount in the sinking fund, and is one of the most prosperous in the state. Mr. Treadway took stock in the company that established the first telephone system at Hollis and also stock in the company that built the first railroad there. He is a charter member and a former president of the Farmers Institute of his county.
He was next to the youngest of eight children. He grew up on a farm but attended the public schools in Akron, and completed his education in the law department of Georgetown University at Washington, D. C., where he received his degree LL. B. in 1891.
Shortly afterwards, at the opening of the Pottawatomie Reservation, he came to Tecumseh, and for about a year made the law his primary business. He then was drawn into banking affairs, as cashier of the Tecumseh State Bank in 1893, moved from there to Shawnee, was made cashier of the Shawnee State Bank in 1895, and in 1897 became cashier of the Shawnee National Bank. In 1900 he bought the Oklahoma National Bank, of which he became president, and remained until 1907. In 1911 he removed to Bristow, and was president of the Bristow National Bank and is still at the head of that institution, though his home is in Sapulpa. In October, 1914, he acquired most of the stock in the First National Bank of Sapulpa, and has since been its active manager and president.
While his time has been so completely absorbed with banking, Mr. Benson has always shown a public spirited attitude toward local affairs. He has the distinction of having been the first county superintendent in Pottawatomie County, but held the office only one year. For six years he was a member of the board of regents for the Agricultural and Mechanical College, and was its treasurer. Besides banking he has some extensive oil interests, and is president of the Layton Oil Company. Mr. Benson is a republican, is affiliated with the Order of Elks, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to the Consistory at Guthrie, and to the Mystic Shrine at Tulsa. He is a director in the Sapulpa Commercial Club.
In 1894 Mr. Benson was married at Tecumseh to Miss Grace Adams. They have one son and one daughter, Richard W. and Grace Alice.
[Source: A Standard History of Oklahoma Volume 4 By Joseph Bradfield Thoburn - Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer]
